10 to 20m resolution panchromatic imagery is available for the UK and Ireland from 1986 to 1995 (from SPOT 1, 2 and 3 satellites). They are isolated scenes captured over an extended time period. The data were acquired by the Landmap project from Infoterra. The SPOT satellite Earth Observation System was designed by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), in France. There have been 7 SPOT (Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre) satellites launched since 1986 (as of August 2014), providing medium to high resolution of the Earth's surface. SPOT 1, 2 and 3 carried a multi-spectral and panchromatic sensor on board. SPOT 4 was successfully launched in March 1998. The first three SPOT satellites carry twin HRVs (High-Resolution Visible Imaging instruments) that operate in a number of viewing configurations and in different spectral modes. Some of those viewing configurations and spectral modes include one HRV only operating in a dual spectral mode (i.e. in both panchromatic mode and multispectral mode); two HRVs operating in the twin-viewing configuration (i.e. one HRV in panchromatic mode and one HRV in multispectral mode); and two HRVs operating independently of each other (i.e. not in twin-viewing configuration). The position of each HRV entrance mirror can be commanded by ground control to observe a region of interest. Operating independently of each other, the two HRVs acquire imagery in either multispectral (XS) and/or panchromatic (P) modes at any viewing angle within plus or minus 27 degrees. This off-nadir viewing enables the acquisition of stereoscopic imagery. To make sure the satellite covers every point on the earth's surface, the HRV imaging instruments offer a field of view that is wider than the greatest distance between two adjacent tracks.

The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) funded Landmap service which ran from 2001 to July 2014 collected and hosted a large amount of earth observation data for the majority of the UK. After removal of JISC funding in 2013, the Landmap service is no longer operational, with the data now held at the NEODC.

When using these data please also include the following copyright statement on any reproduced SPOT images: CNES (year of reproduction of the data from the satellite), reproduced by................................................. under licence from SPOT IMAGE